New invisaligners - grin and bear it! It does get better
Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 12:54 am
Hi all...I'm 31 years old, and after 15+ years of being really unhappy with my teeth finally took the plunge and decided to do something about it. Full credit to my very supportive dentist, who not only encouraged me but helped negotiate a $1000 discount on the cost of the aligners.
I'm just about three weeks in right now, and this post is mainly intended as an encouragement for anyone getting their first aligners. The first two weeks, I honestly felt like I was going to rip the trays right out of my mouth...if only it hadn't been more painful taking the damn things out than keeping them in. The raw spots, the painful tooth movement, the general awkwardness of having these things in my mouth...I really felt like they were going to drive me crazy. I even split both sides of my mouth open taking the darn things in and out, so it looked like I had two gigantic cold sores.
Under the circumstances I was quite paranoid about switching to the second set of aligners, but it's actually been a whole lot better. They have a couple of rough spots, but in different places so the really sore patches from the first aligners have been healing up. The soreness resulting from the tooth movement was less unexpected, and as a result I've been able to control it much better with Ibuprofen. The only thing I can't seem to get around is the constant dry mouth, and I now carry a water bottle everywhere I go. It's fine except when I'm chairing long meetings, and can't really explain that I need to take a break because I drank two litres of water in the first 45 minutes...
So I guess that's my message: stick it out. The first two weeks, it really will feel like you're losing your mind from the pain, discomfort and general awkwardness. But once you get past that first aligner barrier, it *does* get better...impossible though that seems at the beginning.
I'm just about three weeks in right now, and this post is mainly intended as an encouragement for anyone getting their first aligners. The first two weeks, I honestly felt like I was going to rip the trays right out of my mouth...if only it hadn't been more painful taking the damn things out than keeping them in. The raw spots, the painful tooth movement, the general awkwardness of having these things in my mouth...I really felt like they were going to drive me crazy. I even split both sides of my mouth open taking the darn things in and out, so it looked like I had two gigantic cold sores.
Under the circumstances I was quite paranoid about switching to the second set of aligners, but it's actually been a whole lot better. They have a couple of rough spots, but in different places so the really sore patches from the first aligners have been healing up. The soreness resulting from the tooth movement was less unexpected, and as a result I've been able to control it much better with Ibuprofen. The only thing I can't seem to get around is the constant dry mouth, and I now carry a water bottle everywhere I go. It's fine except when I'm chairing long meetings, and can't really explain that I need to take a break because I drank two litres of water in the first 45 minutes...
So I guess that's my message: stick it out. The first two weeks, it really will feel like you're losing your mind from the pain, discomfort and general awkwardness. But once you get past that first aligner barrier, it *does* get better...impossible though that seems at the beginning.